Oban Celtic 0 Skye Camanachd 4 | |
11 May 2015 Skye Camanachd beat Oban Celtic 4-0 in their SSE Scottish Hydro Camanachd Cup first round tie against Oban Celtic at Mossfield on Saturday 9 May 2015. Oban Celtic had made a terrific start to the season and their 3-2 reverse to Ballachulish the previous weekend had been their only reverse whilst forward Lee Askew had scored in every one of their six games game so far. Skye Camanachd first team manager John MacLeod initially made three changes to the squad which beat Caberfeidh the previous weekend in the Marine Harvest National Division. David MacInnes, Stewart Grant and John MacKenzie were called up from the second team. Iain Nicolson was out after suffering a broken thumb against Caberfeidh last weekend. Ally “Spod" MacLeod was unavailable whilst John Gillies was to return to the second team. However Kenny MacLeod and John MacKenzie were late call-offs so John Gillies travelled South as part of a fourteen man squad. Shockie MacLennan and Iain Murray remained on the injury list. The Mossfield pitch was in excellent condition and Skye quickly settled into the match with Jordan Murchison shooting past on just 4 minutes. Oban Celtic looked lively up front with attackers Kenny Wotherspoon, Daniel Madej and Lee Askew asking question of the Skye defence and a couple of minutes later, Skye goalie Iain MacLeod was called into action, saving well with his feet. Oban keeper Alan Duncan saved well on 8 minutes and Jordan Murchison looked in the mood, firing past a couple of minutes later. Chris MacLennan had the chance to put Skye in front with only the keeper to beat but Duncan saved with his feet. Oban’s defence was working hard and making things difficult for Skye forwards. Skye tried to use the big Oban pitch to stretch the home defence and the Islanders continued to play some nice flowing shinty. Oban Celtic were always a threat though and Iain MacLeod saved again on the half-hour mark. Skye's Gilleasbuig MacDonald booked on 32 minutes after an accidental clash with his Oban counterpart. Chances fell to Skye’s Danny Morrison and Will Cowie on 36 and 37 but they failed to trouble Oban keeper Duncan so the sides went into the break all-square. Skye started the second half brightly and Jordan Murchison fired wide of the upright on 46 minutes. Skye made the break-through on 56 minutes when Jordan Murchison created some space for himself and he drilled a low shot into the net to make it 1-0. Skye went 2-0 up when a low cross from the right was turned into his own net by Oban substitute John Hill. Skye made changes on 65 minutes with Chris MacLennan withdrawn and replaced by David MacInnes who took over the wing centre position and this allowed Kenny Campbell to move to the full forward position. Alan MacKinnon shot over on 68 minutes and a couple of minutes later, MacKinnon was booked by referee David Stafford for a rash swing. That signalled the end of the game for the Skye wing centre who was replaced by Chris MacLennan who returned to the field in midfield. With Kenny Campbell in the full forward position, Skye increased the tempo and started to be more direct on the Oban goal. Skye went 3-0 up on 80 minutes thanks to a fine finish from Jordan Murchison which gave keeper Duncan little chance. Skye youngster John Gillies was introduced into the forward line and he did well in the closing stages of the game. Jordan Murchison completed his hat-trick on 82 minutes when Oban keeper Alan Duncan was caught out of his goal and Murchison made no mistake as he slotted the ball home to make it 4-0. It was a good second half performance from Skye against a good Oban Celtic side. The Skye defence played well to keep the Oban attackers quiet with Stewart Grant slotting in well at buckshee back. The centre line kept a good supply of ball to forward line. The attackers played well with Danny Morrison putting in a power of work and Jordan Murchison supplying the finishes with his second hat-trick is successive Camanachd Cup ties. Oban Celtic from: Alan Duncan: Andy MacDonald, Ian MacFarlane, Ally McKerracher, Michael MacKinnon: Stephen Davidson, Neil Carmichael, George MacMillan: Daniel Madej, Lee Askew, Kenny Wotherspoon, Alan MacKie: subs Scott Burnett, Lewis MacPhee, John Hill, Kieran Carnie Skye Camanachd from: Iain MacLeod: Steven Morrison, Ally MacDonald, Neil MacVicar, Stewart Grant: Kenny Campbell, Gilleasbuig MacDonald (captain), Allan MacKinnon: Will Cowie, Jordan Murchison, Danny Morrison, Chris MacLennan subs David MacInnes, John Gillies Match Referee – David Stafford |